PHOTOS BY CHERI JAY WIENECKE Hornet Felipe Nava catches the football for a touchdown in action last week against Cherokee at the Indians' field. The Hornets took a 32-16 win. The Hornets had the game against Cherokee circled on their calendars.

Last season, the Indians traveled to Lometa and upset the home team 38-36.

This year, the Hornets were determined to get revenge and they did, easily defeating the Indians 32- 16 on their field last Friday night.

While several players had big performances in the bounce-back victory after being shut out by Richland Springs in Week 2, Hornets head coach Wendell Bradley was most pleased with the play of his squad as a whole.

"We're still making some mental mistakes, but we played probably our best all-around, complete, team ball game [of the year] with lots of different people contributing," the coach said. "We're trying to get in a situation where we're not just relying on one person."

While Bradley tries to avoid placing too much emphasis on any single offensive player, Charlie Wagner was practically a one-man show against the Indians.

Dalton Parsons dives over the top of a Cherokee player. The senior ran the ball five times for 29 yards and a touchdown, and completed four of seven passes for 93 yards and a score on offense. Defensively, Wagner led the team in tackles with 13 and also recorded a 50-yard punt return.

Making the performance even more impressive is the fact he hasn't played football since the seventh grade when he lined up as a quarterback.

"He had a monster night on both sides of the ball," Bradley said. "These first few ball games, we've just been trying to get him up to speed and give him a little confidence in his abilities.

"I guess we got him to that point, because he sure looked good."

Wagner isn't the only Hornet making up for lost time.

Starting nose guard Justin Nichols has never played competitive football, but against Cherokee he was responsible for four tackles, a sack and a safety.

Receiver Felipe Nava had not played since the eighth grade, but he triggered the offense by scoring the game's opening touchdown in the second quarter, a 17-yard reception from Wagner.

Cody Brister dives for a loose ball in last Friday's contest against Cherokee. "He's about 6-3, and he just went up, full extension, and caught it. And as soon as he caught it, one of their 5-8 corners stuck their helmet in his ribs," Bradley said. "He still stretched out, hit the ground and held on to the football.

"We just [gave] him a chance to be successful, and he used the gifts he has. I'm real proud of him for that."

Lometa went on to score 22 points in the quarter and took a 14- point lead into halftime.

The Hornets (3-1) extended their margin to 32-8 before Cherokee (2-2) tacked on a touchdown in the final minute of the contest.

Manuel Hernandez led Lometa in rushing, finishing with 63 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries, while senior Cody Brister added 32 yards on the ground and had eight tackles on defense. He also recovered a fumble and picked off a pass. Junior Dalton Parsons was all over the field as well, with nine tackles on defense and 38 yards of total offense.

Manuel Hernandez heads for the goal line. Tonight, Lometa will try to gain another measure of revenge when it travels to May. The Tigers (0-4) defeated the Hornets 43-36 last season.

"It'll be a good game for us," Bradley said. "We're looking to come in and try to do several different things at a high level and start eliminating some of those mental mistakes."

Against Cherokee, the Hornets picked up 11 penalties for 110 yards. They also fumbled three times, losing two.

According to Bradley, it is basically a case of trying to do too much too soon with his relatively inexperienced squad. He compares it to riding a bike after 20 years.

"Your brain tells you that you can do wheelies and all these fancy tricks, and you can't do that anymore," the coach said. "Sure, you can stay upright on it and make it go in a forward motion, but you can't sit on the handlebars and pedal backwards.

"In our brains, we're telling ourselves we want to pick up right where we left off last year, but we're not at that point.

"We, as a coaching staff, have realized that we've got to backtrack a little bit and get the basics in with these guys," Bradley said. "We have a lot of guys that are having to learn as they go."

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The Hornets' junior varsity team also had a field day with the Indians, defeating them 40-13.

Brandon Lilly (63 yds.) and Kolby Hesbrook (106 yds.) each recorded two rushing touchdowns in the game. Chris Scarborough and Jose Acevedo also had touchdown runs.

In all, Lometa ran the ball for 265 of its 312 offensive yards. Cherokee ended the game with just 87 total yards.

Lilly (7 tackles, 1 int.), Darrien Maldonado (5 tackles) and Acevedo (6 tackles, 1 sack) led the way on defense.

The junior high squad also had a solid outing against Cherokee, winning 20-7. Lometa was on the field for only 20 offensive plays as the Hornet special teams and defense did a lot of the scoring.

Ben Felan returned a kickoff for a touchdown, and Shane Stone intercepted a pass and took it 50 yards to the end zone.

Dylan Johns recorded the lone offensive score for Lometa.